Tigers face tough ride against Mustangs

Central Christian College tried to shake off Thursday’s two-game sweep by Central Baptist College in a Friday doubleheader, winning the first game 3-2.

Chris SwickSports Editor

Central Christian College tried to shake off Thursday’s two-game sweep by Central Baptist College in a Friday doubleheader, winning the first game 3-2.The Mustangs responded in a big way in game two, though, blasting the Tigers 12-5.Central Christian (11-18, 3-5 MCAC) picked up the game one win behind the arm of senior pitcher Andrew Kroeker. The Inman native threw a full game, giving up only one earned run on seven hits and sitting down two of the 32 batters he faced.“Andrew threw the ball well and really stepped up for our team,” Tiger head coach Justin Cunningham said.He was helped out offensively in game one by left fielder Troy Richter, who went 2-for-4 at the plate, driving in a run and scoring twice, himself. Martin Guevara and Aaron Roberts both added hits, themselves. Rightfielder Mitch Davidoff had a sacrifice RBI.Game two started much the way game one finished, with Central Christian handling the Mustangs for the first two innings on the mound thanks to freshman Thomas Koop. Offensively, the Tigers struck first with a Tyler Gniadek two-run blast in the bottom of the second inning that gave Central Christian a 2-0 lead.But then Central Baptist woke up in the third. The Mustangs plated five in the frame and added three in the sixth and four in the seventh to take control of the game. Mustang rightfielder Chad Curry, especially, had a banner day, hitting 3-for-4 with an RBI and scoring three times, himself.The Tigers were stymied offensively for middle three innings, but managed to get across a pair of runners in the sixth and one in the seventh.Gniadek ended the game with three RBIs on 1-for-3 hitting. Guevara had solid contact with the ball, going 2-for-4 in game two.Koop took the loss for Central Christian, pitching four innings and facing 18 batters. He gave up five runs, all earned, on seven hits, striking out one batter.A.J. Hawkins and Dakota Stien both pitched an inning, not having much more luck with the Central Baptist offensive onslaught. Both gave up three runs, two of which were earned.Despite the game two setback, Cunningham was pleased with the way his team kept fighting.“We had multiple players battle through some minor injuries for the team today,” Cunningham said, “which shows how much our players are playing for each other.”The Tigers have the weekend off, as their next game is Tuesday at home against Friends University. It will be a single, nine inning game beginning at 4 p.m.